Lamb Tagine

"When I made this dish I left the kitchen window open. The smell attracted several male neighbors, and when my husband came in, he said that it smelled so good, he hoped it was coming from our house and not from someone else's! Serve with my Moroccan Couscous and Cucumber Raita on this site."

Directions

Place diced lamb in a bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and set aside. In a large resealable bag, toss together the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, salt, ginger, saffron, garlic powder, and coriander; mix well. Add the lamb to the bag, and toss around to coat well. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of the lamb, and brown well. Remove to a plate, and repeat with remaining lamb. Add onions and carrots to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the fresh garlic and ginger; continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes. Return the lamb to the pot and stir in the lemon zest, chicken broth, tomato paste, and honey. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender.

If the consistency of the tagine is too thin, you may thicken it with a mixture of cornstarch and water during the last 5 minutes.

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 13, 2011

Great recipe. I made it "as is" initially but found it was missing that certain-North-African something. Here are my modifications based on the fact I grew up eating and making this dish:
- Add 1/2 tsp of ground caraway and 1/2 tsp of allspice. This really adds that extra kick for those who are craving Restaurant quality North African cuisine.
- Don't bother with the saffron in the marination. Saffron is more expensive than gold, and it only releases flavor in liquid (warm water or broth). Using it in the meat marinade just lends color; the flavor (and cost) is lost (the turmeric will give enough).
- I cooked the onions, garlic and ginger and let them sweat before adding the raw meat; completely skipped the browning process. (We don't brown meat for stews in North Africa).
- I added homemade beef broth - it's not recommended to use chicken stock if dealing with a lamb dish. This is a big NO-NO in North African cuisine. Disregard my comment if you used chicken!
- I used preserved lemons instead of the lemon zest indicated in the recipe. These are hard to find based on where you are located; but not hard to make at home if you have time. I used half a preserved lemon, sliced it thinly and added it with the carrots.
- Lastly, if you have "Harissa", a Tunisian chili paste, I would recommend this mixed with regular tomato paste, over the sun-dried tomatoes. Please NOTE: Harissa is spicy so disregard if you are trying to tone it down.

Excellent. I just wish I had more time to marinate the lamb - only had a couple hours. But I browned the lamb and then threw everything in the crock pot and it was great. If you happen to be able to get your hands on ras al hanout season blend, you don't have to worry around with all the different spices - just use 2 1/2 tablespoons of that for the marinade, and then add and additional tablespoon and the ginger to the crock pot. Places like Cost Plus carry it really cheap!

Oh YEAH!! Need to up the 'stars' to 10 out of 5 for this! What a fantastic recipe!! This was the first time I had cooked Moroccan for my family but this was the BEST! I bought a jar of Moroccan Seasoning but also added a little bit of each of the spices I had in the cupboard too. Marinated it in the dry spice mix in the fridge overnight. Next morning browned the meat, added the rest of the ingredients to the pot as per recipe, then tipped it all into the slow cooker for 3.5 hrs on high. Added sultanas and pine nuts in final hour. Served over rice as we are not cous cous fans.

Fantastic!! As soon as I mixed all the spices together, I knew this dish would be amazing. I used chicken, as I could not find lamb, and it worked out really well. I also added some cubed yams since I didn't have too much meat. I couldn't wait for this recipe to finish cooking!! The wonderful aromas filled my entire apartment building, and it tasted every bit as good as it smelled. I will be making this frequently. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!Highly recommended!!

Very good! I didn't include turmeric and substituted garam masala for many of the individual ingredients (cardamom, coriander, cinnamon etc which I did not have on hand). It still came out well and is really quite easy to make despite the long list. I added pine nuts for that extra crunch. The recipe tastes very good with lamb, but lamb is not my favourite meat and I will probably try it with chicken next.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.